Bromley College announces new food and enterprise course is on the menu

ONE of the country’s first career colleges specialising in food and enterprise is on the menu in the borough this year.

Bromley College announced this week it plans to start cooking up a new generation of hospitality professionals at its Orpington campus from September.

The facility will be geared towards getting students into the catering industry, which is then hoped to bring more people to dining tables in the area.

Young people from the age of 14 will be given the opportunity to learn the skills they need to carve out successful careers in the trade, while also continuing study for key GCSEs such as maths and English.

Principal Sam Parrett said the development’s “great news” for the borough, adding: “The College’s mission to provide real skills and knowledge for the real world can be fully realised with this exciting new development, in which we will train and develop a new generation of rising stars.”

Bromley College said students will practice their filleting and slicing at the campus’ industrial kitchen, while would-be waiters and waitresses will hone their charm at a new training restaurant in the town centre.

It added hospitality is the third largest sector in the borough and hopes the opening will help businesses flourish – and local figures have come out in support. Jo Johnson, MP for Orpington, said: “Young people with outstanding skills are vital to the future of the hospitality sector and this new college will be a flagship centre in Orpington.”

While Bromley Council’s leader Stephen Carr said: “I am very excited that Bromley College is launching one of the country’s first ever career colleges.”

The move comes following a government-backed scheme to establish a network of career colleges across the country. Bromley College is now accepting applications for its first course.